Sunday, April 24, 2005 8:52 AM

Hand Evaluation - Table Presence

 

PITBULLS:

 

            A tormentee asked me to define “table presence” . Simply stated it is knowing what is going on at the “Bridge table” & acting accordingly. Vulnerability & the deal changes every board. Your bidding changes depending on whether you are vulnerable , the opponents are vulnerable & whether partner is a passed hand. Tactics come into play in order to make life difficult for the opponents. Partner gives you leeway on the terrorist vulnerability in which you do not normally get.

 

            Balancing needs “table presence” . You must know the auctions where the opponents have a fit or do not have a fit in order to balance. You must need to judge the caliber of the opponents to know whether to balance or not . Balance against opponents who do not make penalty doubles is automatic. Balancing against trigger happy doubles also requires “table presence” . Knowing when to bid & when not to bid is sometimes based on reading the table & the opponents.

 

            Table presence requires having your “antennas”  tuned into what partner did or did not do . Partner did not raise you when she had a chance . Partner did not make a takeout double or overcall when she had a chance. Partner did not make a penalty double or competitive double in the auction. On the other hand , partner bid twice vul against non vul opponents , partner doubles then bids again. Table presence is analyzing the auction thereby being tuned into “forcing pass situations” . Knowing that your side owns the hand  by confidently passing knowing that partner must bid again & that your pass has a meaning. Knowing that your side does not “own the auction” & competitive doubles ( D.S.I.P. ) apply instead. Table presence is having “an ear” to the opponents bidding & make leads based on their  bidding , not just on your hand. Table presence is being “tuned in” on what is happening at the table. Whether the opponents are sacrificing against you or when the auction dictates your side has the balance of power. Penalty doubles require table presence.

 

            Deception is an active ingredient of table presence . Practicing deception & false cards for the opponents sake. Acknowledging the fact that there are opponents lurking is table presence.  Not getting fooled yourself with the opponents deception & false cards. Taking a finesse early before the opponents have had a chance to signal an outside Ace is included in table presence. Attacking a suit you do not have and creating a false impression of your hand for the opponents benefit .

 

            Table presence includes “humanics” which is people skills at the Bridge table. People skills with respect to your partner & the opponents are an essential part of table presence. Knowing the strength & weaknesses of the opponents & reacting accordingly. Not making bids “over the head” of your partner or making bids that you can get away with against “soft” defenders. Bidding one more in a competitive auction knowing the “last word Larry” will take one more bid. Reading the opponents discards , intercepting their signals & playing accordingly. Drawing inferences on what the opponents did not lead or what they did lead. Drawing inferences on how the opponents are defending or how a good player is playing a hand & reacting accordingly defines table presence. Making a determination of the skill level of the opponents is table presence. This information may determine how you play the hand or make further bids in an auction. 

 

            Finding queens & determining a line of play is quite often based on table presence. An opponent discards diamonds , abruptly stops & you must find the diamond queen. The odds are that the diamond queen is in the hand that discarded diamonds. People with 5 of a suit normally discard their 5th & 4th card & then stop. Reading hesitations is a bona fide part of “table presence”. You have to be “at the table” to detect nervousness , hesitations & other human reactions & react accordingly to find a queen. This brings in the subject of ethics though so you get “stung” by unethical players who are using poker style bluffs rather that practicing active Bridge ethics. A good player hesitating a long time before accepting a game invite means that he had a close decision. This hesitation helps your defense as you can now place cards in partner’s hand rather than in declarers hand. Your opening lead might be based on how confident their game was bid as are lead directing doubles.

 

            Table presence is also ( you guessed it ) applying patterns to read the hand. Taking advantage of the “triggers”  like opening bids , overcalls , leads , signaling & people showing out of a suit to play the hands. Getting a tentative lie of the land on which to base your play or defense. This is called “reading cards” so should not just be in the specific realm of experts. Have I mentioned applying patterns before ? J Table presence is being aware of HCP’s being played at the table. Being a “human odometer” is a part of table presence. The opponent has shown up with 11 HCP already & you must find a queen. It has to be in this opponent’s hand or that opponent has passed 13 HCP & not opened the bidding. Table presence is the skill of detecting & using information obtained from “the table” during the play & auction. Making logical deductions either negative or positive is table presence.

 

            People with very little table presence invariably do the wrong thing. No table presence quite often means missing even the simplest logical deductions.  The opponents led a spade against my partner & there was ♠Qxx on the dummy . He played small & won the Ace. Partner played the ♥AK & your partner shows out with a void on the board. ♠Qxx ♥void ♦AK10x ♣KJ109xx  so you are in with a trump so what do you do ? Declarer has shown up with the ♠A ♥AKQ10xxxx  so if he had the ♣A he would be in 7♥. Everybody at the table knew that declarer did not have the ♣A except the key defender who got in with her 4th trump & continued spades so –1430. Declarer could not possibly have the ♣A on the bidding. He could not have 2♠ or else he would have played the Queen at trick one. He could not have the ♣A or he would have claimed at trick one or after the bad trump break. Counting his tricks , 1♠ , 7♥ ,2♦ & 2♣ equals 12  !  The defender was just not at the table !!

      There is an expression that a player “has lights on but is not really home” at the table. Table presence is the opposite of that. You have lights on and you are home. You are in to the game & concentrating & not just pitching cards. You brought your “A game “ & competitive edge to the table. You are a good partner & even tougher opponent. You are truly present at the Bridge table.